Pro-Hamas delegates at the Democratic National Convention are not happy right now. They staged a sit-in protest outside the doors of the convention. The reason: They were denied a Palestinian speaker on the main stage. These folks staged their protest outside the venue, where Reps. Summer Lee (D-PA) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) joined them. Omar is one of the most vocal pro-terrorist voices on the Hill (via The Guardian):
Team Kamala won’t give them a public platform but will send the campaign manager to Dearborn to meet with guys like Osama Siblani, a Hamas sympathizer and influential Arab American leader https://t.co/YK0pBPa07Z
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) August 22, 2024
Just outside the convention doors. #DNC2024 pic.twitter.com/KtdfKaCX6d
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) August 22, 2024
BREAKING: Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) joins a protest sit-in by Uncommitted delegates outside the DNC at Chicago’s United Center. She embraced one of the demonstrators who appeared to become emotional. pic.twitter.com/Vz49P8n1Ie
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) August 22, 2024
NOW: Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) joins sit-in protest by Uncommitted DNC delegates as they receive word that the DNC has offered them a meeting with four staffers, but discussions will not include having a Palestinian-American speak from the stage. pic.twitter.com/sHazpJVlLE
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) August 22, 2024
A couple dozen delegates began a sit-in protest outside the Democratic national convention after the ceasefire movement was told a Palestinian American could not speak on the convention main stage.
Uncommitted, a national movement that began in Michigan, won 30 delegates to the convention and has tried to use the party process to pressure Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to broker an end to the war in Gaza. The sit-in is the latest attempt to get the Democratic party to allow greater prominence for the anti-war movement at this week’s convention in Chicago.
Abbas Alawieh, a leader of the uncommitted national movement and a Michigan delegate, began the impromptu sit-in after the DNC told the group it would not get a speaker.
“We didn’t come here to do a sit-in, we’re just sitting here waiting for a call,” Alawieh said. The participants planned to remain in place after Wednesday evening’s convention program ended close to midnight.
[…]
The uncommitted delegates, who represent hundreds of thousands of anti-war protest votes from the primary season, have worked this week to convince Harris delegates to join their cause and sign a petition calling for a ceasefire, dubbing their broader group as ceasefire delegates.
They initially asked for Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan, a doctor who worked in Gaza, to speak from the main stage and have now pushed for a Palestinian American to give a speech there. The DNC offered them a panel on the sidelines of the convention, but not a spot on the main stage.
It highlights the fractures within the Democratic Party that could impact the race bound to be decided by razor-thin margins. Scores of young Democrats and Arab Americans are infuriated with the Biden-Harris Israel policy. Harris reportedly met with these people during her Detroit rally before the convention, where discussions of an Israeli arms embargo were floated. If these people believed Harris would honor that, they’re suckers.
The civilian population in Gaza is holding the Israeli hostages, as we saw when the IDF executed a rescue operation that freed four hostages. There are no innocent civilians in Gaza. They’re all supporting or supportive of Hamas. Stay seated; your people aren’t getting up there.